Border Legality: Access to Administrative Justice in Cameroon

In collaboration with Martial Massike (University of Ngaoundéré), Jose-Maria Muñoz is now preparing a new research project that looks at the ways in which ordinary citizens engage a diverse array of regulatory agencies in the East Region, Cameroon. In a historical moment when ‘rule of law initiatives’ are being undertaken across the globe with the support of powerful international sponsors, access to justice is a pressing matter of concern. Such initiatives largely elide the key arena for the construction of legality that in Cameroon falls under the rubric of administrative law. This study focuses on gold mining and logging, two spheres in which the livelihoods and environmental stakes are particularly significant in this part of the country. We build on ethnographies of legal and bureaucratic processes and aim to contribute to current debates on sustainability, corruption and global administrative law.